This course will introduce you to the history of the United States from
pre colonial times to 1877. It will cover basic facts, concepts,
and themes, concentrating on migration, diversity, and individual freedom
as special features of the early American experience. It will teach you
what it means to study history and why history is an important subject
in modern times. At the end of the course students should be able
to recognize a historical argument when they see one, be familiar with
the most important people, ideas, and events of early American history,
and understand their significance for today. They should be able
to write a short historical essay using facts to support a generalization.

Students in this course will participate actively in their education.
They will engage the instructor and each other in classroom discussion
and write regularly about what they are studying. They will search
the Internet for primary source materials relevant to course content and
apply what they learn from studying those materials to course lectures,
readings, reports and discussions.

Requirements

To be successful in this class you must do the assignments described
below. They are designed to help you come to class prepared to be
an active participant in your own education. You should expect to
spend at least three hours a week outside class doing the reading and writing.
Since you will be doing regular work on the Internet, you should not wait
long to decide when and how you will go online from week to week.